Rishab Shetty (born 7 July 1983) is an Indian actor, director and screenwriter who works in Kannada cinema. He wrote, directed and starred in Kantara (2022), a thriller rooted in the spirit-worship traditions of coastal Karnataka, which became one of the most successful Indian films of its year and won him the National Film Award for Best Actor. Its prequel, Kantara: Chapter 1, was released in 2025.
Quick Facts
| Birth name | Prashanth Shetty |
| Born | 7 July 1983, Keradi, Kundapura, Udupi district, Karnataka, India |
| Age | 43 |
| Occupation | Actor, director, screenwriter |
| Language | Kannada |
| Education | Vijaya College, Bengaluru (B.Com.); Government Film and TV Institute, Bengaluru (diploma in direction) |
| Spouse | Pragathi Shetty (m. 2017) |
| Children | 2 |
| Honour | National Film Award for Best Actor (2024) |
Early Life
Shetty was born in Keradi, a village near Kundapura, into a Tulu- and Kannada-speaking Bunt family. As a boy he performed in Yakshagana, the region’s traditional dance-drama. He came to Bengaluru for college and, to pay for a film course, sold water cans and worked in hotels and in real estate. He entered films as a clapper boy and assistant director.
Career
After small acting roles he directed Ricky (2016) and then Kirik Party (2016), a college comedy starring his friend Rakshit Shetty and Rashmika Mandanna, which was one of the biggest Kannada hits of the decade. His children’s film Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu (2018), about a Kannada-medium school on the Kerala border, won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film.
He took the lead in the comedy Bell Bottom (2019) and appeared in Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (2021).
Kantara, made by Hombale Films on a small budget, is set in a forest village where a land dispute becomes entangled with the Bhoota Kola ritual, in which a performer is possessed by a guardian spirit. Shetty played the rebellious villager Shiva. The film’s final fifteen minutes were widely praised. Dubbed into Hindi and other languages, it earned about ₹400 crore. It won him the National Award for Best Actor and the award for best popular film. Kantara: Chapter 1, a much bigger production set centuries earlier, was released in October 2025 and became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of that year.
Personal Life
Shetty married Pragathi, a costume designer who works on his films, in 2017. They have a son and a daughter. He has funded the repair of the government school in his village.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Rishab Shetty born?
Rishab Shetty was born on 7 July 1983 in Keradi, Kundapura, Udupi district, Karnataka, India and is 43 years old.
What is Rishab Shetty’s occupation?
Occupation: Actor, director, screenwriter.
Featured image: Rishab Shetty at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bengaluru, February 2023. Photo by narendramodi.in, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
